New Pacific Metals’ Carangas PEA update: economics and mine plan notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
New Pacific Metals has updated the PEA for its Carangas silver-gold-zinc-lead project in Bolivia, outlining a 19-year life of mine (plus two years’ pre-production) with total output of 195 Moz payable silver, 1.1 Moz gold, 1,453 Mlb zinc and 941 Mlb lead (339 Moz AgEq). The study gives a post-tax NPV of $3.23 billion and IRR of 37.0% at $5,100/oz gold, with initial capex of $644.5 million, LOM capex of $1.2 billion and a 2.4-year payback. Average AISC is $18.25/oz AgEq, with silver-dominant production of 15.5 Moz/year in years 1–8 before transitioning to 7.6 Moz Ag and 142.7 koz Au per year in years 9–16.
Technical Brief
- Updated PEA increases plant throughput and explicitly incorporates the separate gold zone into mine planning.
- Base-case economics assume $45/oz Ag, $3,400/oz Au, $1.20/lb Zn and $0.90/lb Pb.
- Upside case at $67.50/oz Ag (other metals constant) yields $16 billion NPV and 51.5% IRR.
- Ore extraction is scheduled only in years 1–16, with years 17–19 fed entirely from stockpiles.
- Pre-gold period AISC is $12.11/oz Ag net of by-product credits, indicating strong early cash margins.
- Growth capital totals $422.7 million and sustaining capital $166.5 million within the $1.2 billion LOM capex.
- Closure expenditure is estimated at $149.8 million, implying substantial allowance for rehabilitation and long-term care.
Our Take
With initial capital costs of about US$644.5 million and a post-tax payback of 2.4 years, Carangas sits in the upper tier of Latin American silver-gold projects in our database in terms of capital intensity but compensates with unusually rapid capital recovery, which can be attractive to lenders in a jurisdiction like Bolivia.
The inclusion of Cobre Panama’s 2023 shutdown in the key metrics underlines how large-scale closures elsewhere in Latin America can tighten regional concentrate treatment capacity, which may influence offtake terms for Carangas’ lead and zinc by-products over its 19-year life-of-mine.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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